House Of Gucci - Movie Review

Critics Score - 7 of 10

General Audience Score - 7 of 10

There are some films that almost demand longer runtimes, the epic cinematic experiences like Gone With The Wind, Titanic or Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King come to mind. Among that group I’d include the 2000 Best Picture winner Gladiator from director Ridley Scott, my #4 favorite film of all time. But now Scott brings us his latest, House Of Gucci, a film that doesn’t quite make it into the realm of epic like some of the previously mentioned titles. The film is easy on the eyes, the hues of blue and gray combined with an all star cast makes up for quite a bit, even when the film is unnecessarily dragging it’s feet to get where it’s going. Cutting a good twenty to thirty minutes off the runtime, focusing on the family drama while building momentum toward the finale would’ve given us the film we all deserved. There’s no earthly reason this film should push past the two and a half hour mark, yet here we are. But in the end, everyone looked like they had a blast shooting this film, and it’s tough to not get caught up in the fun when you stop by to visit House Of Gucci.

SYNOPSIS - Our tale of fashion, family, fueding and fallout begins with Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) speaking about the family and luxury brand Gucci as we watch one of the heirs, Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) sip café and ride his bike down narrow Italian streets. We then cut to Milan in 1978 and watch Patrizia pull into her family’s business parking lot in a little red sports coupe. But later while attending a party, she bumps into Maurizio at the bar, mistakes him for a bartender but her interest is quickly piqued when he mentions his last name. She intentionally “bumps” into Maurizio later and after some more flirting, the two eventually hit it off and begin dating. While Maurizio is an heir of a fashion dynasty, he expresses little interest in the family fashion company as he’s pursuing a career in law, but Patrizia has other plans in mind. Once they’ve married, we’re off to the races as Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino) and his son Paolo (Jared Leto) enter the story as adversaries in their attempts to capture the empire. Let the scheming, power struggle, backstabbing, grabs for control and infidelity commence.

After the House Of Gucci is flipped, we’ve recouped our investment but made little profit and are left wondering if it was worth all the time and effort that went into it. While Scott’s direction is clear, you can tell he could care less about what anybody thinks. He makes the movie he wants and while the film is based on actual events and people, the story, pacing and third act leave much to be desired. Even though these characters are all unique, fun to watch and acted by one of the better ensembles of the year led by Gaga and Leto, their efforts are undermined. The first two acts succeed at drawing us into this world of high fashion but any momentum the film gathered peters out because we never seem to get anywhere interesting. When it finally sputters past the finish line with some lines of text about what became of all the Gucci people, we had some fun, a few laughs and heard some great classic rock songs, but we’re also indifferent to most of it and just happy it’s over.

SUMMARY - With a master of cinema in the director’s chair, it’s no surprise that so many technical and visual elements of this film are top notch, but this is a case of the film being less than the sum of it’s parts. Although the story Of Gucci is an interesting and entertaining one, this House is at the end of a road that’s just way too long and winding.